The Fédération Equestre Internationale has re-opened the bidding process for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games following a July 1 meeting at FEI headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Canada was the clear frontrunner for the 2018 WEG following the bid committee's strong presentation to the FEI Bureau, but the Canadian delegation was unable to provide the required full public sector financial support. So the bidding process has been thrown open once again, but with the clear intent that a Bromont/Montreal WEG remains in the mix.

"The Bromont/Montreal bid was very impressive on all technical aspects, and it is hugely disappointing, both for the bid team and for the FEI, that the Bureau was unable to allocate the FEI World Equestrian Games 2018 today," said FEI President HRH Princess Haya. "But unfortunately, without the necessary financial support, the FEI and the organizers would be exposed to an unacceptable financial risk.

The Bromont/Montreal bid team has confirmed it will bid again for the 2018 WEG.

The Canadian delegation that presented the official bid book to the FEI Bureau was led by Paul Côté, president of the Bromont Bid Committee. The team also included Equine Canada President Mike Gallagher, Equine Canada CEO Jean Christophe Gandubert, Bromont International President Roger Deslauriers, technical advisor Leopoldo Palacios, Bromont Bid Director Benoit Girardin and Rene Perreault, representing the Bromont property developers.

"We are of course extremely disappointed by today's decision by the FEI Bureau not to allocate the 2018 Games to Canada, but despite our best efforts, we were unable to put the full financial support in place in time," Côté said. "We obviously respect the FEI Bureau's decision completely, and we will continue our efforts to secure the financial backing we need. We now need to redouble our efforts with our federal and provincial government partners. We have a very strong bid, and we are confident that we can stage a wonderful FEI World Equestrian Games in Bromont."

The FEI Bureau will now establish the procedure and timelines for the re-bidding process for the 2018 WEG.